determined from the talk around him as he filled a bowl, of their new regard andesteem in a town coming apart at its seams, a town where personal protection wasa commodity at an all-time high. There was lamb on the sideboard this morning, awhole pig with an apple in its mouth, and fish stuffed with savory. It hadn'tbeen this way when last Niko'd worked here-then the meres were tolerated, butnot sent goodies from the Palace and from the fisherfolk or from the merchants.

It hadn't been this way, before.... He ate his fill and got his brief from thedispatching agent, who sketched a map of faction lines which divided up thetown.

"Look here. Stealth, I'll only tell you once," the dispatching agent saidintently. "The Green Line runs along Palace Park; above it are your patrons-thePalace types, the merchant class, and the Beysibs ... don't tell me what youthink of that. The Maze's surrounded by Jubal's Blue Line; you'll need this passto get in there." The dispatcher, who'd lost one eye before Niko had ever setfoot in Sanctuary, pulled an armband from his hip pocket and handed it to Niko.

The band was sewn from parallel strips of colored cloth: green, red, black,blue, and yellow. Niko fingered it, said, "Fine, just don't call me Stealth inhere-or anywhere. I need to sniff around before I make my presence known," andtied it on his upper arm before he looked questioning-ly at the dispatcher.

The old soldier in patched off-duty gear said, "You're on call to the GreenLiners, remember, no matter what name you choose. The red's for the Blood Line:that's Zip's PFLS-Popular Front for the Liberation of Sanctuary. ThirdCommando's backing that lot, so unless you've friends there, be careful inRatfall, and in all of Downwind-that's their turf. The Blue Line follows theWhite Foal-those two witches down there, Ischade and the Nisibisi witch-bitch,